Stand Still Juliet
by Must Be a Malfoy
Summary: Tony Stark's niece Isabelle is finishing up her senior year, bound for more studies abroad. That is, until she meets Loki. Tall, dark-haired, and handsome, he sweeps Isabelle off her feet. When battle breaks out in the heart of New York City, Isabelle must decide where her loyalties lie.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys, welcome to my Loki fanfiction, Stand Still Juliet! I know the prologue is like super super short, but I wanted to maybe get some feedback before I started posting, just to see if it was even worth it. (:**

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**Prologue**

Love is a strange thing.

Some people love people who are good for them. Some people love people who are bad for them.

I chose to love someone who is both at the same time.

I chose to love someone who made me feel like I had everything I ever would have wanted; someone who terrorized countless people and even went so far as to kill.

I chose to love someone who would hold me so tightly but so gingerly, like I was something he could break if held too tightly but could also break if he let me go. He was someone not of this world, who used alien technology to destroy a city.

I chose to love someone who was betrayed by his own family, people who were never really his family at all. He was someone oblivious and deceitful to every human but me.

I chose to love someone passionate and beautiful in everything he did or said; a demigod from another realm who came to this planet to control its people.

That was the best, most worthwhile decision I've ever made, and it was my downfall. Our love was torn between two extremes.

I'd give anything to have that love again.

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**Thanks for reading! Maybe review, follow? You guys are the bestest. 3**


	2. Chapter 01

**Hi guys! I decided the prologue was too short for you guys to really be able to tell one way or another about whether I should keep posting on this one or not. So here's the first chapter (:**

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**Chapter 01**

When is anyone going to tell me the truth?

My best friend, Jerrica, has lied to me. Again. And this time, she can't take it back or sugar-coat it with empty apologies.

My phone vibrates and I look down. It's a text from Jerrica: It's not like I meant 2! Idk why ur blaming me 4 this!

I furiously type back, Well MAYBE you should have thought of that before you LIED TO ME! I can't believe you, Jerrica. Just go find yourself a new best friend. I'm done.

I tend to have a bit of a temper; something I've gotten from my father. But, oh yeah, he lies to me too.

Oh, what a happy, charming life I have.

I slide off the bed, walking to the kitchen and emptying the last of the almost-out-of-date milk into a glass. As I grab my iPod and walk back into the bedroom, my phone vibrates in my pocket again. I set the glass down on my bedroom dresser and pull out my phone.

I can almost hear Jerrica say the words, Fine then. Bye.

I almost smile. I know it's odd, but I'm not one to cry easily, or at all. Not anymore.

I empty the milk in one swig, and then lay back down on the bed. I hear the door open and slam.

"We've got to get these presentations together or it will reflect badly on the whole company, Tony!" my dad stresses into his phone. He's always worried about his job, and never has any time to talk to me. Or even spare more than a sideways nod at me, for that matter.

"Alright. Bye," my dad hangs up, and I hear him slouch into his chair, sighing. Then I hear the tapping of the keys on his laptop.

My phone vibrates yet again. This time it's my uncle calling.

"How ya doin' kid?"

I smile. My uncle Tony is the only person in my life who actually makes me genuinely smile. He owns a huge company, Stark Industries, and just last year we found out that he's a superhero. No, literally. He even has an artificial heart. And it glows. I mean, how much cooler of an uncle can you have?

I reply, "As good as I'm ever gonna be today."

"What's going on? I can destroy someone if you want," he adds a laugh at the end.

"Oh, nothing, just my stupid friend, lying to me. I don't know if I can even call her a friend anymore."

"Hmm… Meet me outside in 5."

"Why?"

"You'll see!"

I get up and pull on a pair of my skinny jeans, my Iron Man t-shirt Tony had given me for my birthday (the only present I got this year that someone actually spent time and effort on getting for me), and my black converse low-tops. I pull my thick, fiery-red hair back into a ponytail. As an afterthought, I add a couple bracelets and some colorful earrings. I look in the mirror and smile at how much the earrings contrast with my outfit. Then I frown when I remember who got them for me.

Drew, one of my ex-boyfriends, had gotten them for me for my birthday a few years ago, before he cheated on me with Jerrica, whom he's together with now. That's one of the many reasons that Jerrica and I haven't been getting along lately.

I haven't had the best of experiences with relationships; boys have cheated on me, lied to me (no surprise there), and one even went so far as to hit me. And it's all because there are girls out there better than me. There are always girls out there better than me. I'm always second-best; always the odd one out. And I know that whatever I try to do, they'll always go for the girls who are better. That's just the way it is.

I sigh, moving away from the mirror and walking down the hallway towards the living room.

"I'm going with Uncle Tony," I announce as I head down the stairs.

My dad nods, never taking his eyes from the laptop screen. I grab my black leather biker-style jacket as I walk out of the front door. Ironically, Tony is just pulling up outside on his motorcycle.

"Up for a ride?" he says, smiling and holding up an extra helmet for me.

I smile and shut the door behind me. Today I'm going to forget about my dad, forget about Jerrica, and Drew, and everyone. Everyone except Uncle Tony and I. We're the only people in the world.

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My ponytail hangs out of the bottom of the motorcycle helmet, and it whips against my neck as I cling to my uncle for dear life.

"Where are we going?" I shout over the wind.

"I don't know!" he shouts back.

I smile. Uncle Tony is always so unpredictable, that's one of the things I like about him.

We ride beyond the suburbs, until finally we reach a wooded area just as the sun is about to set.

"This seems like a good place," my uncle says as he slows down the motorcycle and turns off the motor.

"Jarvis, let me know if someone tries to take the bike," Uncle Tony says as he helps me off.

"Will do, sir," replies the automated voice, coming from somewhere inside the motorcycle.

"That's so cool," I breathe, and Uncle Tony laughs.

"Yeah, I had a bit of time on my hands, so I installed Jarvis into the programming of the bike," he says and then turns to the bike, "Say hello to Izzy, Jarvis."

"Good evening, miss."

"Hi," I say, smiling.

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"C'mon, Iz!" Uncle Tony calls back to me. We've been walking for a good five minutes, and my feet are getting tired, but I pick up my pace until I'm beside Tony.

"Where are we going?" I ask. In response, Tony tops a hill, runs down the other side, and takes a seat on the edge of a red-colored dirt cliff.

"Right here. Take a seat, hun," he pats the ground beside him, "I've gotta talk to you about something."

I sit, a bit concerned. My uncle hardly ever needs to talk about something in private unless it's really important.

"What is it?" I ask. He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer. I rest my head on his shoulder, frowning inwardly. Uncle Tony never acts like this.

This is bad. This is very bad.

"Izzy, your father and I have talked, and we've decided that it would be the best for you both if... If you and your father just don't... Don't see me for a while. Just until all this stuff with my work clears up."

I lift my head and turn to look at him.

"What do you mean? Like, not see you at all? Are you crazy?!" I curl my legs up from the side of the cliff and pull my arms around them.

"Izzy, you've gotta understand, what I'm doing isn't just flying around shooting bad guys and getting all the glory. I'm actually put in danger by people who want to hurt and kill me and will use anything they can to get to me. And anything includes you. I don't want you to be in danger, hun. You're someone I love very much, and I don't want to lose you. That's why we can't be around each other for a while until everything gets better."

I feel the back of my eyes burning and look down at my Iron Man t-shirt. No. No, I will not cry. Despite myself, some tears fall on the shirt and soak into the fabric.

"Izzy... Sweetheart, I won't even be around Pepper. This is hard for me too," my uncle says softly. I don't look up or say anything; I just keep failing at trying not to cry. It feels weird, crying. I haven't done it in so long. But it also feels good, letting it all out.

I see Tony try to scoot closer to me out of the corner of my eye. I stand and take a couple steps in the opposite direction.

"Izzy, don't do this," he hurries up beside me, trying to keep up. He grabs my shoulder and pulls me into a hug. I try to fight my way out of his arms before finally giving up, sobbing into his shirt. How could he do this to me?

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**So okay, this chapter was depressing. And to be honest, in general, this fanfic has a bit of a doomed undertone. But I swear it has some good qualities. I put one of the characters in there specifically for comic relief. Soooo maybe review? Even if it's criticism, I'd love to hear it (although please be nice.)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 02

**Hi guys! So, I'm totally pumped for the last week of school next week, but my man is graduating high school tonight and I'm like happy and sad at the same time and augh the feels.**

**But anyway, sorry to bother you with my RL issues. (:**

**Thank you SO MUCH to Loki's Lover for my very first review on this fanfic! You're fabulous! Also thank you to StarOfTheSeaaa for a review on my Sherlock one-shot!**

**On to the fic. Enjoy (:**

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**Chapter 02**

My alarm clock rings. I turn over in bed, slapping the snooze button. I sit up, groaning, and force myself off the bed. I walk sleepily over to my desk and sit down in the chair, staring at my laptop. I promised myself last night that I'd do it when I woke up today, but I'm not so sure now.

Tony had left me with the instructions to send him a video blog, talking to him like I normally would, whenever I missed him. He said he'll receive all the videos when he gets back from the mission he's on.

If he ever does get back.

It's been three days since I've last seen him and we've said our goodbyes. This is the first time I've considered sending him a video. I've been mad at him, even though I shouldn't be.

I open the laptop and click open the webcam. I take a deep breath before pressing record.

"Good morning! It's me, Izzy. It's been a few days since you've left, and I've been hanging around the house. The summer just isn't the same without you," I manage to say all of this before my voice becomes thick in my throat and tears well in my eyes. I clear my throat and wipe my face with both hands. I will not let him see me cry again. I sniffle slightly and flash a fake smile at the camera.

"I'm just glad to be talking to you," I say, my voice still thick, "I'll see you soon. Love you."

I stop the recorder and sigh, sitting back in the chair and closing my eyes. I almost drift back to sleep. Then my alarm clock rings again. I sit up suddenly, my eyes shooting wide open. I get up to permanently turn off the alarm I usually used to wake up for another day of high school. Well, now there'll be no more of that. I'm a senior. Well, I was. Graduation was a week ago. I leave for college after Christmas, most likely the last Christmas I'll spend with my dad for a long time. I'm taking my college courses in Paris, so I'll be moving there and leaving all of this behind me. A new life, I guess I should say. Lord knows we can afford it. That's one area in which my dad actually pays attention to me: money. He always makes sure I have enough. Lately, I can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing.

I walk downstairs to fix myself a cup of coffee, but then realize we're out. Great. I go back upstairs, throw on some shorts and a cute tank-top that brings out the color in my bright green eyes, and head out the door. I decide to just go to the coffee shop down the street. I can pick up more coffee on my regular Sunday grocery run later.

I walk into Starbucks, order my usual, and wait for my order. As I'm waiting, I notice two guys, a young man and an older man, on the far side of the room with weird, light blue, bloodshot eyes. They're both giving me very obvious, very suspicious states. I try to ignore them. Probably just a couple of druggies with bad contacts. I take my order and leave, making a point not to look at them.

I'm not even three steps out the door when I bump right into a wall, spilling my coffee everywhere and almost falling. No, that can't be right. The last time I checked, there was not a wall here. I curse under my breath at the coffee staining my tank-top and look up at what I hit. Or rather, who I hit.

A tall, lean, black-haired man stands in front of me. I stand awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," I apologize as nicely as I can make my voice sound with coffee all over me.

"Oh, it's quite alright. Humans make countless mistakes," he dismisses me and then walks into the Starbucks.

What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"Weirdo," I say under my breath and decide to give up on the coffee for today. I won't be going anywhere anyway. There's still about half the coffee left, so I can drink that and be done with it. As I walk back home, I can't help but play the scene outside of that Starbucks over and over in my head.

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Over the next week, I keep seeing the tall, pale man with the midnight-black hair all over town. I think a couple times that it's almost like he's following me, but I shake the thought away. After all, I'm probably being paranoid. But after a while, I start asking people about him, and no one else has seen him much around town. It seems to me that I see him everywhere.

Right now, I'm walking down the sidewalk, going back home. I hear a honk behind me, and turn to see what is almost an accident between two taxis. And the guy. He's behind me. I don't know what comes over me, but I turn and walk toward him.

"Hey, you," I say, a bit more forcefully than I mean to. My temper's flaring again. This won't be pretty.

He almost looks startled at my audacity. His eyes focus on my face. He's a good foot and a half taller than me. Good thing I can scream if he tries to abduct me or anything.

Once I have his attention, I start to speak again.

"Have you been following me?"

He ponders this for a moment.

"It's a yes or no question," I say just as impatiently as I do sarcastically.

"Yes, I suppose I have been," he says simply. He has an English accent that I thought I caught the last time I'd heard him speak but I wasn't sure of until now.

Well, then. I wasn't expecting that kind of answer at all.

"Why?" I practically throw the word at him as hard as I can.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he says, giving me a look of dominance. What, does he think I'm stupid?

"Try me," I say.

"Why don't we talk somewhere more private? I can't very well explain my situation on the streets where unwanted ears are among us," he says quietly.

There's no way I'm taking him to my house. I have to think of something else.

"How about the park? No one's there this time of day," I say.

He nods his approval, and starts walking the opposite direction of the park.

"Um, the park's this way," I say, and he turns.

"Right," he mumbles, and I laugh to myself as we walk to the park together. It feels so weird to be walking beside the man who's been practically stalking me for weeks, but hey, like I said, at least I've got a good set of lungs on me.

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**Isabelle with all her sass... I love her. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 03

**Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a few days. RL really sucks. Can I please just come live in the internet with all you lovely people?**

**If you want to leave a review or anything, please do so! I'm sorta out on a limb wondering whether it's worth posting or not. Anywho, enjoy this chapter, my lovelies!**

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**Chapter 03**

"Okay, we're here. No one's around, the park is near empty. So why have you been following me? Spill."

The man stands there for a moment in silence. I take this time to notice his high cheekbones, his broad, flawless lips, and his iceberg-blue eyes that seem to sparkle. Suddenly I realize what I'm doing, and I want to slap myself out of it. I can't do this. He's gorgeous, but I can't start to fall for this guy. Some tiny part of me inside tells me it's too late. I'm mesmerized, like some type of magic is making my heart flutter.

"Okay, for example, to start off, what's your name?" I ask, trying to get my mind off how attractive this guy is.

"I am Loki, of Asgard."

"Lokia as guard?"

"No, Loki of Asgard," he says the words slower this time.

"So your name's Loki. Nothing else, just Loki?"

"Yes. Well, if you want to be thorough, Loki Odins– Lafyeyson. Loki Lafueyson. But you need not call me by my full name. To you, I am simply Loki. Pertaining to the second part of what I said, I come from a glorious land by the name of Asgard."

Asgard rings a certain bell in my head.

If you will, flashback with me for a few moments.

Once, a few years ago, I was going to get on the computer at Tony's, and instead of tapping on the Facebook tab, I accidentally opened an untitled folder that had something to do with Tony's work. I reached up to close it, but before I could tap the X, something caught my eye. A few pictures of a tall, muscular man with long blonde hair popped up on the screen. As I read, I found that his name was Thor Odinson, and he lived in a place called Asgard. I saw the ironic relation to the mythological god Thor and the place from which the gods ruled, but as I read on, I kept seeing pictures that were way too real to be faked. I saw the stunningly beautiful clouds and castles of Asgard, and I was blown away. I was suddenly hit with the realization that all of this was real. The myths and legends of Thor and of Asgard were true.

Okay. Back to right now, where I'm absolutely astounded that I've met someone who claims to be from the land I've kept the secret of for years. I want to go; to see Asgard. This guy seemed trustworthy, if only somewhat. Could he take me there?

"Asgard…?" I breathe, barely audible.

He nods, seemingly seeing my thoughts as he says, "I can take you there."

We're so close that I can feel the breath of his elegant words bounce off my forehead and the heat radiating from his body. My eyes flutter to his lips. Why am I doing this? Am I really crazy after all?

"Would you like that? Would you like to see the city?" he's still waiting for my reply.

I stammer, catching my breath, "Yes, I… I would like that very much."

He holds his hand out to me, "Here. Take it."

Reluctantly, I reach out and touch his hand. They're so cold and yet so hot at the same time; a freezing flame. I breathe in slowly, my breath catching in my throat. What am I doing? Where am I actually going? But then again, what am I leaving behind?

"Are you alright? You seem a bit… Apprehensive."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, my voice shaking a bit. He squeezes my hand, a bit comfortingly, and I hold his tighter in return, blushing.

I can't believe myself. Am I really falling for this guy? If I haven't even known him for a week, then why am I blushing so deeply when he looks at me? Why am I finding it so hard to breathe?

"Now, do not let go of my hand," Loki says urgently, "It will break the power of invisibility that I have placed upon myself, and now, since the moment you touched my skin, upon you."

"Wait. If you put an invisibility... spell, or whatever, on yourself, why could I see you?" I ask.

"Now that, I have not quite figured out. There is something special about you, Miss... May I ask of your name?"

"Isabelle. Isabelle Stark. My friends calls me Izzy," I say before realizing I barely have friends anymore. Any friends I had always sided with Jerrica.

"Isabelle Stark. That is quite a lovely name. Again, do not ever let go of my hand, even while we are walking in Asgard. The entire reason I have placed this upon us is because my people would be greatly upset to see a Midgardian walking the streets of Asgard."

"What's a Midgardian?" I ask, testing the unfamiliar word on my lips.

"I will tell you all things in time, Miss Stark. But now you must stay very, very still and do not let go of my hand under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

I nod, and he smiles.

"Hold on tight," he whispers, still smiling, and in an instant, we're gone. The street fades around me and I feel like I'm falling. I grip Loki's hand so hard I feel like I will break it if I'm not careful.

Suddenly I stand on solid ground again.

"How the heck did you do that?!" I manage to say in between heavy breaths.

"Magic," he smiles again, "I do come from Asgard, after all. Quite literally speaking, I'm considered a god."

And he looks like one, too. We're much closer now as I look up at him and he down at me. His eyes are practically burning into my soul. They send shivers down my spine as they catch the brilliant sunlight and seem to radiate the glow. They're the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I get a weird feeling in my stomach, so I look ahead of me and immediately gasp.

"Oh my gosh… It's beautiful," I whisper. The city is golden, gleaming in the sunlight almost as brightly as Loki's eyes.

Loki squeezes my hand again, and I realize his fingers are now entwined with mine. Another weird feeling settles in my stomach. I think it might be fear; fear of falling in love again.

"So," he says, "Are you prepared for the grand tour of Asgard?"

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**So I know, I know she's falling pretty hard, especially for being hurt before, but you gotta think, it may be some of Loki's powers that's helping her along. Like, obviously he's gorgeous, but maybe he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Hmm... Who knows?**

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think so far! (:**


	5. Chapter 04

**Hey guys. Thank you SO MUCH for your reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me to get feedback! I'm like a feedback vacuum... But anyway, that was weird. Sorry.**

**Anyway, thank you for all the nice words about Isabelle's character!**

**Richieyoung: yes, Isabelle is an original character of mine. (:**

**Thanks to coolbeans, Treeeeeeeeeeeeee, Richieyoung, and Guest for your reviews!**

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**Chapter 04**

"That was amazing! Thank you so much," I say, still completely awestruck by the glory of Asgard.

"It was my pleasure," says Loki.

"And thank you for walking me home," I add, "These streets can get really awful at night."

"I understand," Loki says.

"I probably look really crazy right now talking to no one," I laugh at myself and the absurdness of this whole situation. Me, an eighteen year old girl, meeting a gorgeous Norse demigod. What are the odds? It's honestly so absurd that there aren't really odds to begin with.

We both stand awkwardly outside my apartment door until I finally recover my manners.

"Oh! Would you like to come in for some coffee or something?" I ask, gesturing towards the door.

"That would be most wonderful," Loki says.

I fumble with the keys like a crazy person until the door finally unlocks.

I step in with Loki right behind me.

"Have a seat," I say, pointing towards the couch, "I'll be right back."

Loki sits, and I cross the living room and into the kitchen, where I find the coffee can. Empty.

"Crap!" I say, slapping a hand to my forehead. We're out of coffee again. Dad must have used the last of it this morning. I swear, he'll hear about this later.

I pace around the kitchen for a few moments, wondering what to do. Finally, I have an epiphany.

I stick my head out of the kitchen door and into the living room.

"Um, I just realized we're out of coffee. How about wine instead?"

Loki gives me a look like, "I don't really mind" and smiles. God, his smile.

I get down one wine glass and pour some wine from my dad's not-so-secret stash into the glass. As an afterthought, I pour one for me, although I probably won't be drinking any.

I step back into the living room, carefully setting Loki's glass down before sitting on the couch with mine. I flick the TV on to avoid awkward silence. As if to make me feel bad on purpose, uncle Tony's name pops up on the news. I focus on Loki rather than the TV.

"Tony Stark... Is he a relative of yours?"

"Yes, he's my uncle," I say vaguely.

"Oh. And is he some kind of scientist?"

"Sort of. People call him a superhero."

As if on cue, footage of uncle Tony flying around in his Iron Man suit appears on the TV.

"Like that?" Loki asks.

"Yes."

"That must be nice."

"Actually, it's what's keeping us apart right now. He's on a super secret mission that I can't know about. He's afraid I'll get hurt, so he told me he can't see me until it's over."

"Oh. That sounds quite unpleasant."

"It is," my voice is so low it's almost a whisper.

"I'm terribly sorry, am I upsetting you?"

"No, you're fine," I say, and against my better judgement, take a fair-sized drink of the wine. I feel a bit of a buzz, if only a bit.

"So do you have any other family? This is a fairly large living space for one woman," Loki says. I almost giggle at his calling me a woman, but I manage to hold it in.

"Well, my dad, but he's hardly ever home because he's always working for my uncle. And when he is here he barely notices I exist," I can definitely feel a buzz now. Loki's glass is untouched. I'm gonna have to take it easy. I try to set my almost empty glass back on the table, but I set it a little too far off the edge, and it falls off and shatters on the floor.

Before I have time to react, Loki is moving closer to me, asking if I'm alright.

"I'm fine, thank you. I'm so sorry, I didn't even mean to set it that close to the edge... Here, I'll go get towels.

I walk quickly to the kitchen and grab towels to clean up the mess. By the time I get back into the living room, I notice blood on the floor and look behind me to see a trail of little red droplets. I look down at myself to find a small gash on the outside of my right calf. I sigh, and Loki looks over. He notices my wound and springs into action. In one swift movement, he takes the towels from me and swoops me up in his arms. He carries me over to the couch and sets me down.

"Let me see your leg," he says gently.

"No, really, I can get it," I try to tell him, but he refuses to listen. He wraps one of the towels around the cut on my leg and ties it in a knot to stop the bleeding. He rises to his feet and I try to do the same.

"No," he says gently but firmly enough to get me to stay where I'm at, "Stay here. Do you have bandages of any kind?"

"In the bathroom cupboard, first room on the right in the hallway," I say without even thinking about it. What is happening right now? A man I'd just met is nursing a wound I'd gotten because of something I'd been clumsy enough to do.

Loki returns with the band-aid and unwraps the towel. He expertly places the bandage on the gash in my leg, then takes the remaining towels and cleans up the glass and wine mess on the floor as I sit here in something like shock.

Loki kneels in front of me.

"Are you sure nothing else is hurt?" he asks, turning my hands from back to palm, and then ever-so-gently placing a few fingers on the left side of my jaw and his thumb on the right side of my chin. He tilts my head gingerly from left to right and then up and down, his eyes genuinely searching for anything wrong. He finally looks into my eyes, his hand lingering on my face.

_Kiss him_, a voice in my head tells me. I almost listen to it, but instead I remember all the times that voice has made me look like an idiot.

"Listen, you've been really really nice to me, and thanks for that, but I've really got to get to bed. It's late," I say, although it was only 9:00 the last time I checked.

"That's fine," Loki says, standing and making towards the door. I want to reach out and grab his hand and never let go, but instead I stand and hold open the door for him as he walks out.

"Thanks again," I say.

"No, thank you, for the wine," Loki says.

"But you didn't drink any wine..."

Loki winks, smiling that smile again. Then, in an instant, he's gone.

I close the door, crossing the room and flopping back down on the couch, feeling helpless. I look over at the table where my wine glass was and have to do a double take.

My glass is sitting on the table, completely whole, with the same amount of wine in it as before.

And Loki's is empty.

* * *

"Hey, Tony, it's me. Isabelle. Your niece. I just wanted to keep you updated on what's going on in the life of moi... Um, I've just been hanging out around town, and... I met a guy... He's cool, Tony. You'd like him. He's a bit odd, but you'd warm up to him. I just hope he hangs around long enough for you to meet him. His name's Loki Lafueyson, but he prefers to go by just his first name. He's just odd that way. I'm not saying we're together, but I'm not saying we're not. We've hung out a couple times, and... I don't know, he just doesn't seem like any of the other guys. He's genuine, Tony. Anyway, I've got to go. Love you lots!"

I turn off the video blog and hit send. I sit around the house for half an hour before deciding to go running. It's too nice of a day to not do anything outside. And all of my hanging around the house isn't helping my figure. I'm usually pretty routine in my running; I try to run whenever weather permits, but I've been slacking off lately. I get dressed and grab my iPod before leaving.

On my third or fourth lap around the park, I see one of the girls who I went to school with, Arizona Barlow, sitting on one of the park benches. I decide to break for water, and if she recognizes me, I'll say hi.

The water fountain water tastes nasty, and I grimace. I suppose this happens to be a lovely time for Arizona to see me.

"Isabelle? Is that you?"

I look up from the fountain to see her ridiculously long and beautiful blonde hair, her caramel-colored eyes set on her flawless face, and her slim figure. She hasn't changed much since I've last seen her, except she looks a bit more tired and unkempt than usual.

Arizona had moved from Ottawa two years ago, and had tried hard to fit in here. She'd adopted the nickname Zoe, eliminated her Canadian accent as well as she could, wore the right clothes, and chose the right music. Everyone loves her.

"Zoe! Or can I call you that?"

"Most everyone does," Arizona laughs, an airy and delightful sound.

"So how have you been?" I ask.

"I've been good, you?"

"Alright."

"How's your uncle?" Arizona asks. I knew she'd ask this. Everyone eventually moves on from me to my superhero uncle.

"Honestly, Zoe... I don't know. I haven't talked to him in a while. He's been busy with work."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. How's Jerrica?"

"We kind of stopped being friends," I say bitterly.

"Oh my goodness! Well, that makes two of us," Zoe looks down. She can't be serious.

"What happened with you and Delaney?"

"She got really mad over some stupid thing that I don't even remember, and we haven't talked since. I've honestly moved on. She's a jerk."

"I'm still sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. Hey, I'm going to a party tomorrow night. Do you want to come? It's at Xander's at ten. How about it? We both need it, eh?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll be there," I say, "Thanks, Zoe."

"No problem. Hey, I've got somewhere to be soon, so I'll let you get back to your workout. See ya!"

"Bye!"

I run a couple more laps around the park as Arizona leaves, and on the third, I see Loki standing by a few of the oldest-looking trees in the park.

"Hey!" I call across the space between us. He turns, an odd look crossing his face before he realizes who called.

He smiles and starts walking toward me.

"Isabelle! How are you?"

"I'm great, just finishing up a workout," I hope to God I don't smell like sweat.

"You look great," he says, effortlessly casual, as he watches a group of blackbirds fly from one tree to the next.

"Thanks, so do you," I say as casually as I can, "So hey, are you going to be anywhere tomorrow night?"

"I don't get out much, Isabelle," he says this seriously, so I don't laugh.

"Well, I'm going to a party, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me, like a date."

"That would be most delightful," Loki says, and I smile, my heart skipping a beat. Maybe two.

"Great! Do you have a phone, or...?"

"Oh, a cell phone! I do, actually."

"What's your number? I'll put it in so I can call you tomorrow."

"Alright," Loki says, and pulls out an older model flip phone from his jacket pocket. He pushes a few buttons and holds the phone up to me, his phone number typed out on the screen. I copy it into my phone and put it back in my pocket.

"Thanks," I say, "I'll call you tomorrow, alright?"

"Very well," he says, "I suppose I'll talk to you then."

I smile and turn away before he can see I'm blushing.

* * *

**Heh... Loki has a Nokia... Sorry, my sense of humor is terrible. I just found that sorta funny. A little. Anywho, hope you enjoyed this chapter! (:**


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